Passport to the New Year

Each year involves a new adventure, a need to quench the inner wanderlust. 2003 was about London. Twice in fact, with a short side journey the second time around to dramatic Edinburgh. 2004 was about Paris. The first time as a couple. The amazing balcony view from our hotel room will forever be etched in my memory of that trip, as will our boat cruise up the river Seine on a chilly winter evening. I recently stumbled across this website by another adventuresome couple that recaps one of their days in the City of Lights (link here). Heartened to see they recommended one of "our" restaurants, Le Trumilou, along the quay near the Hotel de Ville. I can still taste the grilled whole fish with sauce. Mmm. T and I will have to do Paris again very soon. What will 2005 hold for us as travelers? We'll have to see how things unfold, but Korea will definitely be in the mix.

New Year, New Look

In celebration of the coming new year, thought it appropriate to revamp the look of the weblog, so voila, here it is...

Fantasy Football Finals

We're approaching the last week of the regular season of the NFL. Normally, this wouldn't be an item of note on my calendar since I'm not really a diehard professional football fan. My heart is really in the college game and has been ever since my freshman year at Berkeley. Fitting, with Cal slated to play in its second straight postseason bowl game less than six hours from now (Holiday Bowl, ESPN, 5pm PST). But this season, Sal and some of my other colleagues at Wells convinced me to throw in my twenty dollars and more importantly, my reputation as a proud Texas native to join their fantasy football league. So for an agonizingly long sixteen weeks now, I and eight others have been researching players, watching countless games, negotiating trades with other members, and through it all, consistently trash talking our beaten foes on Monday mornings. For those not in the know about fantasy sports, it's a large, multi-million dollar industry involving every major media outlet in print, broadcast, and the internet. It has contributed to making ESPN the highest revenue-generating cable station in history. Just about every male between the ages of 18 and 45 either plays or knows someone who plays one of the fantasy sports, football, baseball, and/or basketball. And its impact on the national economy, especially during the last weeks of the particular season whether it be the NFL, MLB, or NBA, is immense; a handful of economists have even proven a noticeable loss in GDP due to fantasy sports and its effects on worker productivity. Well, week seventeen, the final week, is a few days away. Seven teams are clearly out of contention. And only two teams are left standing, mine and Jeff's. It'll be extremely close with only a single point separating our two teams as of today. $150 and bragging rights are on the line. Just hoping my wide receivers have a good weekend with many of my running backs sidelined with injuries.

Creative Writing for Adults

The San Francisco Chronicle wine section had an amusing article this morning recapping the notable events in the wine industry this past year and touched on the success of the independent film, "Sideways", by parodying its two main characters, Miles and Jack (article here). In the spirit of the struggling-writer-cum-wine-expert Miles, the article provides a link to a website that someone created a while back that randomly generates wine notes, the short and often adjective-filled commentary by wine connoisseurs used to define the "character" and "personality" of each wine. Here is the link to the Silly Tasting Notes Generator (website here). My first wine note... "Chunky but equally big and plump Chenin Blanc. Hits you with smoked bacon, over-oaked black-cherry and lingering honey. Drink now through June." You can also generate an "extra-silly" version. Here is my first over-the-top wine note... "Tightly wound and morally superior Voignier. Essenses of cottage cheese, sweet fruity pebbles and semi-weak buttermilk pancakes. Drink now through 2008." Too funny. One could make much of the conspiracy amongst professional writers and winemakers. Imagine some of the literary greats marketing wine in their own particular style of writing... Hemingway, Faulkner, Twain, Steinbeck... the latter may be one up already, having penned The Grapes of Wrath.

Autumn 2004, the Abridged Version

The autumn of 2004 marked many a personal milestone. Rather than revisit each with a lengthy, long-winded tome, I thought it better to just list them out and save the in-depth commentary for future weblog entries: - A picturesque and memorable wedding, reception, and extended family reunion in the Sonoma wine country - A wonderful family gathering at the house on the Russian River - A week of decadence and irresponsibility on the banks of the Seine in Paris on our honeymoon - Hosting more than three hundred church members in Walnut Creek for a second wedding reception - Celebrating our first Christmas weekend together as a combined family on the north shore of Lake Tahoe - Having a number of out-of-town friends crash at our new place including two that recently made the decision to move back to the Bay Area - In the midst of all of this, somehow completing the fall quarter of my second year in the MBA program - Watching the Cal football team climb to a top five national ranking after more than a decade of grief as a long-suffering fan - Participating in the annual Big Game bonfire at the Hearst Greek Theater and watching Cal demolish Stanford the next day for the third straight year - Too many other memories to recount in one blog so this will have to do for now.